Technologies for realizing automatic driving of an automobile have been rapidly developing. An example of technologies associated with automatic driving and progressing in recent years is a lane departure warning system (Lane Departure Warning System) which emits a warning when a running vehicle departs from a lane. This lane departure warning system emits a warning using vibrations or voices, for example, when a running vehicle starts departure from a lane in accordance with lowering of awakening of a driver on a monotonous road. This lane departure warning system is recognized as an effective system for avoiding an accident of a vehicle beforehand, caused as a result of departure from a lane. It is further confirmed that this effect considerably reduces lane departure accidents of vehicle groups carrying the lane departure warning system from statistical viewpoints.
Moreover, technologies for detecting an obstacle by using a millimeter-wave radar utilizing millimeter waves, a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) utilizing lasers instead of millimeter waves, and a stereo camera, have been developed as sensing technologies around a vehicle for measuring a distance between the vehicle and a vehicle running ahead, and the arrangement of the vehicle. Along with this development, applications such as an adaptive cruise control system (Adaptive Cruise Control) for maintaining a distance between a vehicle and a vehicle running ahead at a constant distance, and an emergency collision reduction and prevention brake system have been currently put to practical use.
Further developed have been a technology for emitting a warning to a driver by using a visual or auditory alarm for warning based on determination made in accordance with the degree of awakening and the degree of tension of the driver during driving, and an HMI (Human Machine Interface) technology called a haptics technology, provided on a handle or a seat to give tactile vibrations or the like (see PTL 1).
These technologies have been forming a technical base, along with introduction of a large-scale sensing system, for realization of an automatic stop of a vehicle as an emergency stop at the time of the necessity of an emergency stop of a vehicle as a result of decrease in the driving ability of a driver.
However, the most advanced and expensive systems constituted by a plurality of devices including these high-level technologies need to be equipped to realize a safe and secure stop of a running vehicle after lowering of an awakening state or a loss of consciousness of a driver by controlling the foregoing sensing system in an integrated manner. Accordingly, a large price barrier still exists for the commercial use.
Particularly, when a driver of a large-sized omnibus such as a bus and a long distance bus (Coach) loses consciousness during high-speed running of the vehicle, the vehicle comes into an uncontrollable state, and may cause not a minor accident but a serious accident influencing many passengers and running vehicles around the vehicle. For avoiding this problem, it is assumed to introduce an emergency stop button equipped on a train or the like, and an emergency stop control button corresponding to guidance-related control of the train or the like, as a means for allowing a passenger or an alternate driver having noticed the abnormal condition of the driver to perform a prompt accident avoidance operation so as to reduce or avoid a serious accident.